The Best That You Can Do (A Continuation of IWMY)
by Tachikawa Mimi
Summary: *CHAPTER 2 IS UP!!!* Joe has taken the next flight to America, after not seeing Mimi off with the others. How will Mimi take this? It's not as predictable as you'd think. Meanwhile, Yolei and Izzy continue to battle over who's REALLY right, and who's REAL
1. Caught Between the Moon and New York Cit...

The Best That You Can Do  
(A Continuation of Seishuun Dattene...)  
Chapter Eleven

"Yolei, your words are like honey!"

"Only because you put them in my mouth."

"Once more, my sweet!"

"You're enjoying this _way_ too much." Yolei grumbled behind a computer screen in the Odaiba High's computer lab.

Izzy was underneath the steel-legged table, connecting numerous network cables. He smirked, and sat up a bit to pull out a chord from beneath him. He connected it to a power socket, and an array of screens in the room began to flicker on.

He came out from beneath the table, and brushed off the front of his white uniform shirt. He walked over to a computer in the far corner of the room--the file server. He sat down in front of it. "I don't hear anything..."

"Izzywas_right_andIwas_wrong_." Yolei growled through clenched teeth.

"I can't heeeeaaarrrr yoooouuu..." he sang.

"IZZY WAS RIGHT, AND I WAS WRONG!"

"IZZY WAS RIGHT, AND I WAS WRONG!"

"IZZY WAS RIGHT, AND I WAS WRONG!"

"IZZY WAS RIGHT, AND I WAS WRONG!"

"IZZY WAS RIGHT, AND I WAS WRONG!"

Yolei heard her voice echo endlessly in the room as her admittance was put on reply on every .WAV player in the lab.

A vein began to throb peevishly on her forehead, and she saw all of the computer screens switch to a screen saver with 3-D letters in a rolling marquee:

"Izzy Was Right, and Yolei Was Wrong"

Izzy couldn't help but cackle at his devious prank. He rested an arm over the back of his chair, and turned around cooly to face Yolei. "Have I made my point clear?"

Yolei's eyebrow twitched, and she pushed her glasses further onto her nose. She stood, knocking down the chair she sat on. At the top of her lungs, she screamed:

"There is just TOO MUCH EGO in this room!!!"

"Mimi."

"Mmh..." Mimi buried her face further into her pillow. She waved a flimsy arm to slap away the disturbance, but Jill nudged her again.

"Mimi, my parents aren't back yet." Jill leaned on a crutch over Mimi's bed.

Mimi sat up, and rubbed her forehead. She looked at the clock on the desk across the room, and groaned, falling back on the bed. "It's three in the morning!" She paused, and sensed her friend still at her bedside. "What do you want me to do, call them and make sure they didn't get arrested?"

Jill whimpered pathetically. "Could you make sure the door is locked? I don't want someone breaking in."

Mimi sighed, and trudged out of bed. Rubbing her side, she licked her dry lips and and made her way to the living room. Past the sofa and television, Mimi and Jill approached the door.

"It's latched, bolted, and locked." Mimi turned the knob, and the door refused to budge. She looked over her shoulder to her blonde roomie, and rose an eyebrow.

Jill looked at Mimi with her doe-eyes. "Sorry. Wanna catch the late-night show with me?"

Mimi sighed, and tugged on the bottom of her pajama shirt. She limply threw herself on the sofa across from the TV, and grabbed the remote.

Jill sat down next to Mimi, and nuzzled up against her side. She gently propped up her cast-bound right leg, and rested her head on Mimi's shoulder.

Mimi stopped surfing channels when she heard one of Dudley Moore's popular lines--

"Can I kiss you?"

She held the remote still, and slowly lowered it to her lap. Her half-open eyes reflected the shocked face of the lovely young lady playing his love interest. There was a short silence between the two, except for the horse in one of the stalls in the stable they were in.

"Yes..." she whispered, her dark eyes round.

Mimi's chest ached as Dudley Moore's character walked across the stable, and kissed the nose of the horse just behind his lady friend. She smiled almost bitterly, and her shoulders rose slightly as she let out a small smirk.

"Oh! I'm sorry! You thought I was talking to you!" Dudley said teasingly.

Mimi shook her head, smiling. "What a brat."

She had originally seen the movie "Arthur" for its theme by Christopher Cross. Mimi watched the remaining thirty minutes of the movie, and found herself mouthing the lyrics as Jill soundly slept against her. After the movie ended, she shut off the television, and sat there in the darkness. She closed her eyes, and began to drift to sleep.

What little sleep she got--no more than fifteen minutes, certainly--was cut short by Jill's nudging.

"Mimi, would you let my parents in?" she begged groggily.

Mimi opened one eye, and heard a quiet knocking on the door. "Don't they have keys?"

"Maybe the forgot them." Jill was awake now.

"...I dunno." Mimi stood, and helped Jill up. "Stick close. I'll need back-up in case this visitor isn't your parents."

Jill gulped, and nodded.

Mimi yawned, her head still cloudy. She unlocked, unlatched, and unbolted the door, and looked to Jill behind her, who had a crutch lifted, ready to strike. She faced forward, and swept the door open.

Mimi's eyes fell on those of Joe Kido, who looked like he had been thrown into the middle of New York's craziest intersection. His breathing was weak, his glasses crooked, his hair blown out of place...

Jill lowered her crutch, and looked to Mimi, who had an understated look of shock on her face.

There was a pause, of course. Joe and Mimi didn't move, but Jill craned her neck to see the two exchange looks. Highly anticipating some sort of action, Jill kept her fair distance though, finding Mimi to sometimes be unpredictable.

--unless Joe made the first move. He took a breath and began to speak, and Jill noticed him lift a foot to take a step towards Mimi.

"Mim-"

Mimi, unflinching, quietly shut the door before Jill could hear the second syllable. In a daze, Mimi spun on her heel, and began to walk back to the bedroom. "It's the cheese pizza. It must be the pizza..." she droned.

"Mimi!" Jill called, and looked to the door.

Mimi crawled into bed, and curled up in a fetal position. Closing her eyes, she pulled the blankets over her head, and slept the rest of the morning.

The smell of ham and the sound of the television is what Mimi woke up to at around noon. She heard commotion in the kitchen, and slipped out of bed to see if Jill had saved her any breakfast.

She yawned, and lightly scratched her chin. "Jill, what time did we actually get to sleep last night?"

Jill looked up from the stove, leaning on her crutches. She smiled, and Mimi saw why--Joe stood behind her, turning the slices of ham on a skillet.

Mimi gawked, and pointed this out. "Wh-who is THAT?!"

Joe looked up, nervously smiling. "Rise and shine, Mimi!"

Mimi gasped, and covered her face with her hands. "Oh, my GOSH! Now I have to go get MAKEUP on!!!" She spun around, and bee-lined back to the bedroom.

Joe and Jill both flinched as they heard the door slam shut.

Jill turned to Joe, and smiled. "I told you we'd finish breakfast in time."

Mimi dabbed concealer over the dark circles under her eyes. Leaning over the bathroom sink, she studied her reflection in the mirror. She was debating with herself while putting on makeup.

She wasn't going to avoid him. That was unrealistic, and very babyish. But what could she possibly say? "Thanks for coming!"? "How'd you get here?"? Duh. By plane. "Why?"?

...that would be odd. "Why?"...if he answered "Why not?", she'd twap him.

She heard a knock on the door, and Jill's voice came from outside. "Mimi, your breakfast is cold!"

"I don't _care_!" Mimi shouted back. "Have your _visitor_ eat it!"

Jill detected the bitterness in Mimi's voice. "Uh, excuse me, but he's _your_ guest."

Mimi glared at her reflection, and she noticed Jill's voice change to one of a more jocular tone.

"Don't say that you don't know him! Every other word out of his mouth right now is Mimi! Mimi! Mimiiihee-hee-hee!" Her reciting of Mimi's name dissolved into giggles as her voice faded off.

"You're worse than my brother!" Joe's voice could barely be heard in his embarassed hiss.

"What, do you _expect_ me to just let you wish my shopping partner away from me without putting up a fight? Fat chance!" JIll teased.

"Will you two keep it down out there? I'm trying to do my makeup in here!" Mimi growled.

"You're a troublemaker." Joe whispered calmly.

"Says the stalker boy from Japan." Jill's voice was distinctively louder than Joe's.

Joe grumbled something inaudible, and Mimi rolled her eyes after applying mascara. She opened a tube of lipstick, and liberally applied a pinkish-brown shade that simply tinted her naturally-bright lips. She pressed her lips together, and touched up her top lip when the door opened behind her. She spun her head around, her eyes wide.

Joe had his eyes closed nervously. "It's safe to come in, right?" He opened one eye apprehensively, his teeth clenched together in an uneasy smile.

Mimi set down her lipstick, and stood up. She was still in her pajamas--a knit shirt and drawstring pants.

"Why?" she peeped, but immediately regretted it. "H-have you eaten? Where did you sleep? When-"

Joe left the door open, and sighed as he let himself further into the small bathroom.

"You weren't at the airport. Was there an emergency that you couldn't come to see me off?" Mimi kept talking nonstop, her nervousness beginning to suffocate her, resulting in having her choke out her words. Her embarassment caused her eyes to water and sting.

Joe put a hand on Mimi's cheek, and grinned as he ran a thumb over the side of her top lip. "You've got lipstick all over your face." He said with almost a laugh.

Mimi put both of her hands around Joe's wrist, her tears spilling over her cheeks onto his hand.

"You're supposed to be _happy_ to see me." Joe didn't move his hand, but kept his jocular tone.

Mimi sniffed. "You big jerk...you had to mess up my girls-only movie night, and now you've messed my makeup."

"Can I make it up to you with dinner?" Joe's voice grew quiet again at the question.

Mimi let go of Joe's wrist, and turned around to face the mirror. She wanted to. If anything, she never turned down a free meal. But it was such a drastic contradiciton to what she had planned to do--a few hours of the silent treatment, some crying, make him regret ever getting upset with her in the first place--

Mimi dabbed her eyes. "The tears weren't supposed to come yet. Now it's for all the wrong reasons."

"Mimi, I would've done this--well, I _should've _done this if were were back in Japan. I'm not doing this because I feel sorry for you." Joe's voice rose a bit, and he extended an arm to express the sincerity in his words.

Mimi glanced at the reflection in the mirror, and saw Jill's sillouette on the wall outside.

"Do you have any idea what's good in New York?" she asked, her eyes lowered onto the counter. Mimi glanced up to the mirror to see Joe's face light up for a moment, but it quickly faded. "That's..." he spun around, and walked out of the bathroom. "Jill!-oh, you're right here..."

Jill straightened up outside the door, her eyes wide.

Mimi shut the bathroom door, and went back to her makeup. "Now I'm going to have to re-do all of my eye makeup..."

Joe opened the door, and stuck his head in. "You'll be ready at six, won't you?"

"Oh, only _six_ hours to get ready?" Mimi teased, looking over her shoulder. "I'll manage."

Joe nodded, and shut the door.

Mimi turned back around, to which Joe opened the door again.

"Oh, yeah. I'm taking you someplace really fancy. Dress up." Joe gushed out, and slammed the door shut in a rush.

Mimi turned completely around this time. She looked at the closed door, and blinked. She went back to her makeup, muttering "I wonder if someone back home put him up to this."

"Good GRIEF!" Yolei rubbed her nose after recovering from a sneezing fit.

Cody handed Yolei a tiny handkerchief from his pant pocket. "What did you say to him?"

"Thanks." Yolei took the handkerchief, and wiped her nose. "I didn't tell him anything. He was laughing too loud, I couldn't hear myself _think_."

Cody flatly stared at Yolei, and sweatdropped. _You've got a one-track mind_. "I meant Joe."

Yolei looked over to Cody. "Joe?" She looked down at the Hida family computer, which was getting a complete overhaul courtesy of Yolei Inoue. "He just wanted to double-check the address Mimi was staying at. Paranoid."

"New York's a big place, I can see why." Cody knelt next to Yolei.

"Geez, this drive is screwed in tight--what the heck did you guys _do_ with this thing?!" Yolei grumbled.

"...well...Izzy upgraded it last year sometime..." Cody watched Yolei try to wigglet he screws loose.

"Huh. Figures." Yolei grumbled. "You'd expect him to be so short-sighted. As if we'd never do another upgrade or something..."

"He probably thought _he_ would be doing it." Cody's voice lowered in volume. "But he's busy with exams coming up..."

Yolei jerked her head up, and glared at Cody. "You mean to tell me that you asked him _first_?!"

Cody shivered. Yolei's expression made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. In a silent fury, she stuck her head back into the case, and began to mess with the wires. "I can't believe you asked Izzy when you could've just come next _door_ and asked me!! He's inconvenient, you have to work around HIS schedule, and look at how he does wiring! Look at this sloppy mess!" Yolei pulled out her head, and scornfully insulted the unsuspecting wires. "This red, yellow, and green thing just doesn't make any sense! What was he _thinking_?! I'll have to re-do the entire thing!"

Cody was meanwhile trying to get a word in, "But--but they computer came that way--"

Yolei pushed herself up from the floor, and paced towards the door of Cody's bedroom. "I'll be right back."

Cody turned to the computer, and sat himself in front of it. Peering inside, he saw that jumbles of wires were still loose. He sat back, and his eyes followe dthe main power chord, which was still plugged into his electrical socket.

"...." Cody sweatdropped, and crawled over to unplug it. Just as he pulled it out, Yolei came back in.

"I'm borrowing this from your mom, but I'll pay her back." Yolei sat in front of the computer again, and set three bottles of nail polish down in front of her. She began to unscrew one, which was a light lavender.

Cody crawled to Yolei's side, his eyes wide. "What's that for?"

Yolei pulled out a bunch of wires, and painted each yellow one lavender. "Making some sense out of these wires."

Cody nearly fell over. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Of course it does. Computer geniuses like myself have little to fear from these machines!" yolei capped up the lavender polish,and opened the light blue to paint over the green. "Now, if Izzy has trouble figuring any of them out, you can always have me help, of course!"

Cody gave Yolei a suspicious look. "Of course."

"Mimi, let's be honest with each other." Joe was the first to speak after they closed Jill's apartment door behind them.

Mimi wrapped her black velvet shawl around her shoulders. She looked up to Joe with observant eyes. He was dressed well--he must've splurged at one of the nicer boutiques on this side of town. His hair was combed so that his layered bangs framed his face.

"Okay. Your cufflinks clash with my outfit." Mimi pointed at Joe's wrists.

Joe angrily blushed, and began to pace down the hallway. "That's NOT what I meant!"

Mimi stood at the doorway still. She delicately held her purse, and watched Joe stop a few doors down when he realized that she didn't follow him.

He turned around to look back at her, and she called in response.

"You better be planning to offer your arm to me if you plan on having my company this evening!"

Still red in the face, Joe hurried back to Mimi's side, stood to her right, and stiffly extended his left arm to her.

Mimi smiled, and took his arm with both of hers. "I know this must be hard on you." She teased.

"I wanted to explain why I wasn't at the airport yesterday." Joe kept his straight and sensible demeanor as they made their way to the elevator.

"Oh, not that!" Mimi whined, and leaned against Joe as they waited for the door to open. "Can we save that for later? I wanna enjoy the night--without seriousness."

Joe frowned, and they walked into the elevator. "How could you possibly enjoy the evening when we have something like that in our memory?"

"What can't wait a few hours more? After all, it waitied all day." Mimi was messing withthe cufflink on his left arm.

Joe looked down at Mimi, who was intently focused on his wrist. He sighed, and put his right hand in his pocket.

"You really didn't hold back at al, did you?" Mimi began to talk again as they walked out of the glass doorway of Jill's apartment complex. "This suit's really nice."

"Thanks." Joe stood at the sidewalk. "I'd say that you look nice--"

"--but I already know that, right?" Mimi grinned. "It's still nice to hear, though."

Joe's right hand fidgeted in his pocket nervously. "You look perfect." He kept his eyes on the street, looking for a taxi in the distance.

Mimi blinked, and held onto Joe's arm still. "That's a bit much."

Joe grimaced, blushing. He glared down to Mimi cynically. "What the heck do you want me to say?!" he grumbled.

Mimi glared straight back at him. "If I told you everything, _I'd _be the man in this picture, not you."

Joe turned his glare back to the street, and pulled his hand out of his pocket to hail a taxi. "Taxi!!"

Mimi stepped down off of the curb, and realeased her hold on Joe's arm. Waving both arms freely, she shouted at the top of her lungs. "TAXIIIII!!!!"

"Mimi--!" Joe threw both of his arms around her frame, adn yanked her back onto the curb. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

A taxi pulled over just a few feet from them. Mimi giggled, and put a gentle hand on one of Joe's arms around her. With a light pat, she said "Just that, foreigner."

Joe blankly stared at the taxi, "...."

Mimi lifted her chin to look up to Joe, whose chin was resting on her head lightly. "Wanna get in?"

"Oh!" Joe backed away from Mimi, his arms raised a few inches above his waist.

Mimi skiped a few steps as she rushed over to the taxi. She swung the door open, and crawled in.

Joe rushed in next to Mimi, and slammed the door shut.

The driver looked back to them in the rear view mirror. "Where to?"

"The Boardwalk." Joe confidently said, brushing off his sleeve.

Mimi and the driver both gave him an expectant look.

Joe looked back at Mimi apprehensively. "What?"

"Which one?" Mimi asked.

"There's more than one?" Joe sounded amazed.

Mimi buried her face in her hands, and the driver sighed.

"This is my first time here, okay?!" Joe rose his voice at Mimi or the driver--or maybe both.

"Where are you taking me, Joe?" Mimi cowered in her own embarassment.

"The Steel Drum." Joe replied.

"Got it." the driver pulled out into the traffic.

Joe was recovering from his sudden spaz-attack, and Mimi turned to him.

"Have you ever eaten Cuban food, Joe?" Mimi asked with wide eyes.

"I've never paid more than ten dollars for a meal before, Mimi." Joe answered, then paused. "Except for our sushi date."

"Oh, so they're _dates_ now?" Mimi teased.

"You're the one who called it that." Joe replied.

Mimi pointed to herself. "_I_ called it a date?"

"You two are going to The Steel Drum and you're not dating?" the driver cut in.

"It's an apology-and-promise-never-to-do-it-again dinner." Mimi leaned over the seat to talk with the driver.

"Mimi!" Joe pulled Mimi back, and hissed to her. "What are you doing?!"

"Clarifying things for him." Mimi whispered back.

"It's none of his business!" Joe angrily shook a hand in the driver's direction.

"Sure it is! He's an NYC taxi driver! It's like a hair stylist! You can tell them anything!" Mimi replied.

Joe sighed, and Mimi went back to chatting with the driver. He watched the scenery pass him by swiftly. The evening sun was turning a ripe red, and street lights and signs were flickering on along the way. The people pacing down the sidewalks were bundled up tightly. Friends and lovers huddled close to each other to warm one anohter up. The heat coming from the luxury cars all around them were forming streams of translucent clouds.

Mimi leaned over Joe's lap, and looked out the window with him. "It's charming, isn't it?"

"It's nice." Joe replied half-heartedly.

"...." Mimi watched silently, trying to ignore Joe's less-than-enthusiastic answer.

"I can...y'know..show you around a bit. Tomorrow. If you like." Mimi quietly muttered an offer to Joe.

"I have a flight home tomorrow morning." was his reply.

"Oh." Mimi looked at her hands, and sat back in her seat. She looked out of her window instead, a disappointed frown on her face. _Just doing everything in your power to not grow to love this city, huh, Joe?_

"Don't worry. I wasn't expecting you to come back with me." Joe said with a lighter mood. "I know better."

"You know better." Mimi said at the same time, hugging her arms tightly.

The two exchanged a look with almost bittersweet smiles. Mimi broke eye contact and looked back out the window.

"Are you cold?" Joe asked.

"A little." Mimi honestly replied.

Joe reached over, and lifted Mimi's shawl further over her shoulders.

Mimi tugged on her shawl, wrapping it tighter. Her plum-colored dress just barely reached the rop of her knees. She crossed her ankles, and waited for the taxi to pull to a stop in front of The Steel Drum before picking up her purse.

The driver got out of his seat, and opened the door for Mimi.

Mimi took in the atmosphere of The Steel Drum's entrance while Joe paid the cab driver. The sign was a lit-up coral color, and fountains on each side of the glass door were an illuminated blue.

Slow jazz music was played live in the lobby. Mimi and Joe both felt a little intimidated by the high-class atmosphere--but Joe took a small gulp, and escorted Mimi to the front desk.

"Kido, party of two." Joe felt his face burn when the host lifted his eyes off of the reservation book.

"Of course, sir. This way." the host led them into the main dining room.

The two teenagers couldn't believe their eyes. The walls, the ceiling--the restaurant was a giant aquarium!

Joe felt Mimi's hold on his arm tighten. They were shown to their table, but even then they couldn't stop gasping at the different fish they spotted.

"This place is amazing--I had no idea it was like this!" Mimi awed at the finned creatures swimming merely inches from her.

Joe looked up at the ceiling, a goofy grin on his face. "I wonder if that's where they catch our dinner."

"Behave!" Mimi giggled.

"What drinks do you want to start off with?" Joe opened a menu.

Mimi followed his example. She scanned the drinks. "How about we have some watermelon margaritas?"

"In the middle of winter." Joe gave Mimi a questioning look.

"Pretend you're on the islands!" Mimi cheerfully chimed.

"Being eaten by mosquitos...getting sunburnt..." Joe began to count down on his fingers.

"Going barefoot, collecting seashells, sleeping on hammocks..."

"...getting caught in the undertow..."

"...parasailing..." Mimi leaned over the table.

"Me wearing a swimsuit." Joe shot back.

"_Me_ wearing a swimsuit." Mimi rose an eyebrow.

Joe paused, and sat back. "Where's that waiter?"

"It's summer all the time!" Mimi chirped happily. She began to read through the menu again, observing the specials and paying close attention to the desserts.

Joe saw that Mimi was looked at the back of the menu, and smiled. "Aren't you going to--I dunno--look at the entree section?"

"The true test of a chef's creativity is in three things--" Mimi turned the menu. "--drinks, salads, and desserts."

Joe ordered their drinks, and turned back to Mimi, "So entrees and appetizers--"

"Anyone can do a new entree or appetizer. Chefs focus all of ther enegies on them, and ignore things like desserts." Mimi's eyes widened. "I hate it when restaurants are nothing but chocolate, cheesecake, tiramisu, blah, blah, blah...and if you're lucky, creme brulee."

Joe snickered, and had to stifle a chuckle after Mimi finished.

Mimi sat back. "What?"

"You're so intense about it." Joe stayed quiet in the restaurant.

Mimi took her drink as it was set in front of her. "I thought you were used to that by now."

"I guess not!" Joe sipped his margarita. "Mm. Not bad."

"Not at all." Mimi agreed, and picked up her menu again. "I think I'm ready to order."

"Really? So fast?" Joe rose his eyebrows. "That's not like you."

"Well, there's so much to choose from, I'm just going to pick one and go for it!" Mimi closed the menu.

"And appetizer." Joe asked.

"You're paying. You decide." Mimi casually replied.

"But it's for _you_." Joe insisted.

"You have no clue what you want." Mimi replied.

"Not one."

Mimi sighed, and opened the menu again. "What're you having for dinner?"

"Pork tenderloin stuffed with papaya with a guava-pinapple chutney." Joe read off of the menu.

"Mmh--" Mimi grinned, and sipped on her margarita again. "Don't read it like that, you're turning me on."

Joe dropped the menu, and reached across the table to take Mimi's margarita. "Are you sure these are virgin?"

Mimi giggled. "I'm positive, you old fogey!" She snatched it back, and sipped it again. "Let's get the stuffed mushrooms, then."

"I trust you." Joe casually looked at the desserts.

"Oh, you _do,_ do you?" Mimi grinned evilly.

"Allow me to re-state that--"

"--I don't think I want to!" Mimi teased, cutting Joe off. "You know, that was going to be what I ordered--lemme see what else would go well..."

"Want me to order something else?" Joe asked. "I'll order something else if you--"

"No! Now I can get something different." Mimi scanned the menu. "If I get lamb, that should make picking an appetizer to share easier."

Joe looked at the fish next to him, and rested a finger on the glass.

"Yeah, I'll get the lamb, and we'll have this stuffed mushroom appetizer." Mimi pointed out an item on her menu, and tapped it. "Although I'm not a big mushroom fan, it'll be perfect for a cold winter night like this." Mimi looked up over the top of her menu when she didn't hear a response from Joe. She set her menu down, and leaned on the table. "Oh, so the fish are more interesting than me, huh?"

Joe pointed upwards, near the upper portion of the aquarium wall. "Look at those two angelfish up there."

Mimi rose from her seat just slightly to get a better look.

The two fish were eagerly swimming their way towards the top of the aquarium. The smaller one stopped for a moment, and gradually began to sink. the larger of the two swam back down, and came up behind it to urge it forward. The two began swimming again towards the top, when the larger of the two began to slow down. Like before, the smaller fish pushed on from the back, and they continued to the ceiling.

Mimi's lips curled to a smile. "That's so cute!"

"It's like us, isn't it?" Joe calmly said. "Always making each other give our 110-percent."

Mimi sat back, and smiled across to Joe. "Even when oceans away."

"Especially then." Joe answered as the host approached their table.

The two teenagers looked up with curious eyes.

"Sir, you have a phone call at the front desk." he quietly, politely said.

Joe and Mimi looked at each other with questioning looks.

"Jill?" Mimi asked.

"I don't know why she'd ask for me, though." Joe stood, and set his napkin on the seat. "I'll be back."

"Don't be long." Mimi gently pleaded.

"Go ahead and order when the waiter comes." Joe said before walking to the front desk with the host.

"...." Mimi frowned, and looked around for their waiter. _What am I, Jill's baby-sitter?_ She flagged the waiter down, and ordered her and Joe's meals. She requested that she keep the menu to look at it a bit more. As the waiter left, Mimi buried her nose back in the menu to decide on dessert. She felt a presence on the opposite side of the table, and lowered her menu to see a man--perhaps in his late 20's, early 30's...standing at the edge of the table. By how he was dressed, he could have very well been a CEO or popular playwright.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, Miss." he smiled warmly.

"Joe, this is Izzy."

Joe gawked, nearly dropping the phone. "Izzy?! Where are you?!"

"In Japan, of course." Izzy replied matter-of-factly. "I forced Jill's number out of Yolei, called her, and she gave me the number to this place--"

"What _for_, Izzy?" Joe felt his shoulders sag with a hopeless feeling of annoyance.

"Your brother called." Izzy sounded nervous on the other side of the line. "And your father, too. He was asking why he couldn't reach your cell phone."

Joe paused, his stomach beginning to feel queasy. He tugged at the collar of his button-up shirt, and swallowed. "What'd you tell him?"

"I told him to ask your brother."

"Izzy!!"

"What was I supposed to tell him?! That you hopped on a plane to America to chase after a girl?" Izzy got defensive.

Joe sighed. "That's not what this is."

"Why couldn't you have just shown up to see her off like a _normal_ person would've?" Izzy muttered.

Joe could just barely pick that sentence up. He arched his eyebrows, and shifted his weight. "Look, I've gotta call my brother to make sure he covered for me. I'll talk to you when I get back."

"When's that?"

"Oh, some time tomorrow."

"_Oh_." Izzy sounded a bit forced in his reply.

"What was that?" Joe straightened up.

"What was what?" came Izzy's reply.

"That '_oh_'." Joe imitated his friend's tone.

"Oh. Well, I thought that you were staying longer than that."

Joe closed his eyes. "I gotta go."

"All right. Have fun, Joe."

"Yeah." Joe hung up, and pulled out his wallet to grab his phone card. Picking up the phone again, he dialed home.

"Hello?" Jim answered.

"Jim. Has Dad called?" Joe anxiously asked.

"No, it's seven a.m. over here, bro." Jim groggily grunted as he sat up in bed.

"Has Izzy called you?"

"About you leaving? Sure. Don't worry, I'll cover for you." Jim rubbed one of his eyes, and fell back down on his pillow. "Can I go now?"

"I'll be back tomorrow."

"Whatever. Goodbye, Joe."

"Sweet dreams." Joe dryly said before hanging up.

Walking back into the dining, room, Joe tugged on his jacket collar, straightening it. Taking a deep breath, he began to walk back to the table.

"Oh, gosh, no! I'm barely eighteen!" Mimi laughed.

Joe's feet froze. He heard a man's laughter. It sounded much older, too. He turned the corner, and he felt his face burn when he saw a much more mature man sitting in his chair across from Mimi, smiling with a grin that was just way too straight to be likeable.

"Eighteen? Do they allow food critics that young?" the man good-naturedly replied.

"I doubt it! My dad's been encouraging me to go to a good journalism school, so I could work for metropolitan magazines and stuff." Mimi framed her face, and smiled one of her trademark grins. "B'sides, I've been told I've got a face for television! Maybe I could do broadcasts!"

Joe took that opportunity to approach the table. He went up to his chair, and stood there, facing Mimi. He left enough room for the intruder to vacate his seat, but only that. "Sorry I took so long."

Both looked up to Joe, but neither stood. 

"Ah! Joe!" Mimi gestured to the man across from her. "This is Douglas Alexander, the editor for a Canadian culinary magazine!"

Joe nodded to Douglas. "Nice meeting you."

Douglas nodded back, looked to Mimi, and back to him with a grin. "I was just telling Miss Tachikawa about the growing market for good dining writers. She has a knack for matching dishes."

Joe looked to Mimi, who sipped on her margarita, coyly watching him with her sharp hazel eyes. He swallowed, and looked back to Douglas. "Is that so?"

There was a pause. joe and Douglas looked at each other, and Mimi studied the two men. Joe didn't pull up a chair. He stood next to Douglas, giving him a pointed look.

Mimi watched Douglas's confident smile quickly dissolve, and he defensively wilted back a bit before standing up.

"I've held up your dinner long enough." Douglas still had his cheerful, friendly tone, as he straightened his tie and coat. He nodded to Mimi. "You're a lovely girl, Miss Tachikawa. Good luck with your future."

Mimi smiled. "Thank you."

Douglas gave a slight bow to Joe. "You two have a good meal."

"_We_ will." Joe stressed both words as he took the back of his chair, and cleared the way for Douglas to get by.

Joe sat back down once Douglas was out of ear shot. "How old was he, Mimi?"

"You know I'm a horrible judge of age." Mimi sourly answered, her eyes lowered.

"He was at least twenty-eight." Joe put his napkin back on his lap.

Mimi avoided all eye-contact spitefully. "He didn't touch any of your appetizer, I don't see what you're upset about."

"You're way too gullible!" Joe hissed, putting a stuffed mushroom on his appetizer plate.

Mimi gawked, and sat back on her chair. "Oh, great! I don't understand something, and what do you do? You _insult_ me!"

Joe kept his voice just above a whisper, while Mimi quietly hissed her words.

"That man was too young to be giving you a job offer, and too old to be safe." Joe cut his mushroom, and took a bite.

Mimi's mouth gaped. "Well, you didn't have to be so mean!"

"My appetizer was getting cold." Joe casually replied. "Honestly, Mimi. Must I always explain myself?"

"This time you should!!" Mimi frowned.

There was another silence. Joe felt the tension in the pit of his stomach. Mimi's face burned angrily. She rested her hands on her lap, and continued not to look at Joe.

Joe felt his temper simmer with frustration. Why did Mimi have to be so short-sighted? Why couldn't this evening just go smoothly? They hadn't even discussed the airplace departure just a day ago. His impatience was getting to him. He wanted to amend things. He wanted them fixed _now_. And now that guy had to show up and complicate things. He kept justifying himself in his head. This was _his_ night with Mimi, _his_ chance to make amends. No one--not Izzy, not Jim, not Yolei, and _especially_ not some stranger--was going to intrude tonight. This was his night--he only had _one_ night. He picked up his margarita, and drank from it, his eyes closed. Perhaps a long sip would cool off his fuming.

"I still don't see the difficulty in pulling up a chair." Mimi muttered under her breath, not really intending to be heard.

Joe slammed his glass back on the table, causing Mimi to flinch, and the silverware to clatter against each other.

The diners at nearby tables all looked over to their table in a start. Neither teenagers looked up.

In a silent huff, Mimi threw her napkin on the table, grabbed her purse, and stormed away from the table. She headed to the back exit, onto the boardwalk outside.

Joe quickly followed her outside onto the empty boardwalk. It was dimly lit, just enough to reflect off of the quietly trinkling stream beneath the boardwalk. He looked in the distance, and saw Mimi running her fingers through her hair, tugging her shawl tighter, and pacing towards the sidewalk on the other side of the boardwalk.

With long strides, it didn't take Joe long to catch up. He took Mimi by the shoulders, and turned her around gently. "Mimi, go back inside, it's freezing out here."

Mimi aggressively struggled. "I'm not going anywhere with you! Let me go!"

"Mimi, stop being like this."

"Stop treating me like you're my parent or something!" Mimi pulled away from Joe. "Don't make me scream! Let me go! I _will_ scream!"

"Mimi! Calm down! Joe struggled against Mimi's protesting and squirming. She tried to swipe at his glasses, but he had a good enough hold of her, that she easily could control her arms if he needed to.

In the heat of the arguement, when Joe had to suddenly dodge Mimi again, a small object fell from Joe's coat pocket, and slid about eight feet away from the two.

At the sound of it falling, they froze, and watched it until it stopped.

Mimi relaxed her fists, and ceased her struggle, to which Joe released her shoulders. The quiet stream beneath them was the only noise made, until Mimi's heels caused the wooden planks on the boardwalk to creak. She walked over to the object, and as she got a closer look, she saw a navy box at her feet. She bent down, picked it up, and straighted up. She turned to face Joe, still not giving him any eye-contact since Douglas left.

She opened the box, and saw in it a tiny, delicate gold chain bracelet with an amethyst bead smoothly linked in the middle.

Mimi opened her mouth to speak, but not a sound came out. Taking out the bracelet, she looked up to Joe with bewilderment.

The dim lighting had his handsome face, for the most part, shadowed over. He steadily walked over to Mimi. He took the bracelet from her, and swung his arm to throw it over the boardwalk, into the stream. He turned back around to face her, and then, Mimi clearly saw the anger and hurt etched on his face.

Mimi's eyes began to sting as tears began to well in them. "You...you are the stupidest, most insensitive person that I've ever met!" she furiously blurted out, and turned back around to angrily continue her walk down the boardwalk.

Joe furiously stood there, boiling. He watched Mimi toss her hair behind her back, then stop to take off her shoes before walking any further.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Ta-daaaaah! In time for Valentine's Day, too! ^^; Yes, I am continuing this. **Yes**, there will be more Kouyako next time! Please review, as always, I love knowing what you guys think. Was this a bit less predictable than the last chapter of "It Was My Youth"? I hope so! ^^ Whee! The bracelet scene! I've been wanting to write it for so long! ~* Anyway, my eighteenth birthday is this Sunday (Feb. 18th), and then Kari-chan's birthday is on the 20th! Special! Special! So many birthdays in February! ~*_

_Check out the huge update over at [Reality Check][1]! ^^ I think you'll be happy with what you see!_

_Also, unless you indicate otherwise in your review, I will be adding any supporters of my story/the Jyoumi cause to the clique! You don't have to have a webpage to join! Just be sure to include your e-mail address,okee? ^^ I want people to see the large fanbase Jyoumi really has! ^^_

_~Mimi-chan_

   [1]: http://mimou.faithweb.com/



	2. Wake Up, and She's Still With You

It Was My Youth: Chapter Twelve

The Best That You Can Do  
(A Continuation of Seishuun Dattene...)  
Chapter Twelve

_Good Lord, it's cold._

Joe Kido felt the icy water seep through the threading in his thin dress socks. The tiny, smooth rocks began to move against each other as he slowly began to tread down the shallow stream. He denied every temptation that came to just give up and go home. The chilly wind slowly blew, and shivers crept down his neck and arms.

He kept his eyes on the stream, scanning the bottom for any trace of irregularity in the pattern of stones. He sloppily rolled up his shirt's sleeves to his elbows. His coat was neatly folded at the bank of the stream, his shoes set next to it.

If outside, one could hear a quiet disturbance in the water's flow as Joe got on his hands and knees to feel around for the bracelet he impulsively threw in just moments earlier. The heat of his anger was gone-as well as any other heat, for that matter, the water was soaking his pants and was beginning to seep through to his skin. All he could feel now was regret.

It didn't matter if he was right or wrong anymore. He wasn't even sure why he was in this ridiculous position, soaking-and possibly ruining-an expensive designer suit to find a silly bracelet (which was also expensive, he had to add in this thoughts) for which he didn't know why he got it in the first place.

He wasn't being himself anymore. Since when did Joe Kido become spontaneous? Since when did he ever keep a secret? Since when did he ever want to be alone with _anyone_?

Joe held up the bottom of his silk tie, tipped in the stream water. He sighed, and thought out loud, "And since when did I become such a big spender?" He hopelessly dropped the tie, and went back to his search. He held his breath, and squeezed his eyes shut as he plunged his hands back into the water.

He could hear his teeth chattering over the splashes of water. He began to worry for Mimi's safety. The idea of her alone on the dangerous streets of New York City made his heart sink. An angry Mimi on the streets was even worse-her hot temper gave her a false sense of security, a feeling of invincibility.

The fact that he was the cause of this entire scenario strengthened his drive to find the bracelet. He crawled forward in the stream, his face flushed, but his breath forming clouds in front of him. He felt something catch on his middle right finger, and he froze. He acted fast, and made sure that he had a good hold of the chain. He pulled his closed fist out of the water, and smiled when he saw the bracelet hanging off of his fingers. With great care, he pulled his arms close to his chest, and clumsily got up from his groveling position. With lacking grace, he trudged out of the shallow water, and heard his footsteps squish beneath the pressure.

His teeth were now chattering loudly, and his entire body violently shook. Water dripped down his arms, lightly dampening his sleeves.

He stepped into his shoes and didn't release his hold on the bracelet as he carefully slipped his coat back on.

He ignored the stares given to him by the other diners as he re-entered the dining room. Some didn't even look up, and the waiters remained aloof and unwavering.

Joe approached his table, and saw the food already packing in styrofoam boxes, with the check resting discreetly next to it.

_It appears that I'm not the first one to have a rough evening here..._Joe found himself amused at the promptness of the service the Steel Drum had. He pulled out the cash to pay for the bill, and took the carry-out, which was put in plastic bags.

For some odd reason, the knowledge of that fact made Joe feel a little better.

Mimi Tachikawa sniffed, and tugged her shawl closer around her bare shoulders. Her nose was beginning to run after she dried the tears in her eyes, and she used the back of her hand to wipe it.

She ceased her angry pacing down the New York City sidewalks, and dug in her purse for a tissue. She usually hated using them, in fear of messing up her makeup.

But she was cold, and hungry...she didn't want to add sniffly to her list of offenses.

She pulled out a tissue, and blowed her nose. The streets were well-lit,and they were relatively empty in comparison to the usual crowds that filled them during the weekends.

She put her dirty tissue back in her purse, and continued walking.

_What day is it...?_ _I don't remember anymore._ Mimi looked in the windows of the stores she passed. She noticed an antique clock reading 10:30. _Wednesday? Well, almost Thursday, actually..._She looked away from the clock, and began to walk again.

She went into a small deli, to get out of the cold. The smell of yeast invaded her nostrils, and she sat down on the stool at the bar.

"A little over-dressed for your usual sandwich run, don'tcha think?" an elderly man behind the bar set down a napkin to her right, and poured her a glass of water.

Mimi looked up, and cracked a smile. "M'taking a dinner detour."

The tender nodded with a silent understanding, and pulled out a menu for her to look at. "Well, it's not four-star, but the reuben here is mighty addictive."

Mimi looked at the one-sided menu. "I'll just have a roast turkey club, no mustard, light mayo, no pickle."

"Swiss or cheddar?"

"Havarti."

The tender whistled, raising his eyebrows. "Whatever you say, missy."

"And a cup of hot chocolate would be great." Mimi set the menu down, and pickedup her water.

"If you need anything else, let me know." the tender turned away from her to go make her order.

_Wednesday..._Mimi held her glass, and stared down into it. _Joe had a test tomorrow...what was he thinking?_

The hot chocolate was set below her nose, and her thoughts were interrupted. She looked up in a start.

"Sorry about that." the man turned back around. "Didn't mean to scare you."

Mimi shook her head. "My mind's somewhere else." She watched him make the sandwich. "What'st he fastest way to get to the Lincoln Heights apartment complex from here?"

"Take a cab to Prue and Main, then it's only a walk from there." the man set Mimi's sandwich in front of her, and stepped back. "I'll call a cab for you, it's hard getting one over here this late."

Mimi nodded, and picked up her sandwich. "I'd appreciate it. Thank you."

What would Joe do now? He wasn't as predictable as he used to be. She realized that Joe had a dangerously silent temper, but it seemed to have gotten hypersensitive lately.

And she didn't like it. Why should she have to walk on eggshells whenever around him? It's not her fault if he was in one of his moods.

But would he come back to the apartment? He didn't really have anywhere else to go. He'd have to come back.

She finished her sandwich a lot quicker than she thought. Conveniently, the cab was waiting for her outside.

After paying the tender, she gathered her things, and headed back to the apartment complex before the temperature dropped even further.

Her anger had been long-cooled by now. She sat in the courtyard at the apartment's entrance, and watched the locals stroll by at a relaxing pace found only in the late hours of a New York City day. She no longer noticed how cold she was. She was absorbed in her self-reflection. She was more scared, than anything. Not scared that Joe would _do_ anything to her...but more of what he wouldn't do.

Mimi then began to wonder if Joe already got back. Perhaps he stayed for the meal? She began to feel sorry for him, leaving him there with two expensive meals...

Then a dreadful thought passed through her mind...what if he didn't come back? His place left tomorrow, what if he left for th airport after he ate?

She watched a taxi cab speed by the corner, splashing a puddle on a young woman and her date. She merely blinked as she watched them grab onto each other, taking in the shock of falling victim to a fairly-common New York incident. They looked to each other, and laughed.

_I still don't envy you..._Mimi thought to herself as she watched the companions walk past, unfazed. _I know one day, I'll have lived a love story to trump all of the ones this world has to offer._ She looked to her lap, and tears began to blur her vision._ I've just gotta stop thinking of myself all the time..._She rested her hand on the bench's seat, and felt something fall against it. Blinking her tears back, she turned to look at her hand, and saw the tiny white otter plush. It had fallen over to her hand, and was now face-down.

Mimi stared at it, her face blank. Her mind was like a broken television. It was fuzzy, and full of static.

Joe walked around the corner of the bench, and sat down next to her. He set one plastic bag down on the pavement, and put another on his lap.

Mimi looked up to him, her facial expression loose, and plain. Her mouth gaped open a bit as she watched Joe untie the bag on his lap.

There was silence between them as Joe set a styrofoam carton on her lap, and then pulled the plastic bag further down to pull out the other styrofoam carton. After setting it on his own lap, he dug further into the bag, and pulled out two plastic forks. He held one out to Mimi, and waiting for her to take it.

Hesitantly, she took the fork Joe offered, and looked down at the bright white carton on her lap.

Joe already had his carton open, and was about to scoop up a forkful of mango creme brulee. He looked up to Mimi, who still shamefully looked at her carton. He lightly tapped the top of her carton with his fork. "It's going to get cold."

Mimi kept her eyes lowered, and opened the carton to see her own serving of mango creme brulee.

"But, why...?" Mimi looked up to him. "Joe, you didn't have to do this."

Joe had his eyes fixed on his creme brulee, and was lightly picking at it with his fork. His mouth was a slight frown, and he put a large bite of the tart and custard into it. "Well..." With a full mouth, he looked up and watched the cars. With almost an obnoxious bluntness, he replied very lightly, "S'because I love you."

Mimi's eyes widened, and she jerked her head up. "Excuse me?"

Joe had to put some effort into swallowing his large bite, and he began to laugh. "C'mon Mimi, what's the big deal? You're acting all surprised or something."

Mimi took the otter, and fwapped Joe upside the head with it. "Don't use that phrase so lightly, you tease!"

Joe winced, and looked up from his dessert.

"Here I was waiting here for you to get home, regretting everything that happened, and now you've got to make me feel guilty and rub it all in!" Mimi glared down at the dessert.

Joe reached over, and innocently began to pick up Mimi's take-out carton. "You want me to take back the dessert?"

Mimi angrily blushed, and with both hands, yanked the carton out of Joe's grasp. "NO, I _don't_ mean the dessert!"

The noises from the street then dominated their conversation. They both looked at their halfway-gone desserts.

"D'you want the rest of mine?" Joe asked, offering his carton.

"No, it's not that good." Mimi quietly replied.

Joe smiled, a bit relieved. "So I'm not the only one who thought so."

Mimi smiled back, and looked up. "Some places in New York are nothing but hype, y'know?"

"There's places like that everywhere." Joe closed his carton, and set it on the cement.

"Yeah. If we wanna have _real _good Cuban food, we should go down to Florida." Mimi set her fork down, and picked up the otter. "But we can't, `cause you're leaving tomorrow."

"Yup." Joe replied.

"Why?"

"Because I'll miss out on too much school." Joe rubbed his cold nose vacantly.

"No."

Joe looked to Mimi.

"I didn't mean just that." Mimi fiddled with the plush toy. "I mean...y'know..."

Joe rose his eyebrows. "I do?"

Mimi rolled her eyes, and shifted her position so that she was facing Joe on the bench. "Everything!"

"Oh, _that_ clarifies things."

Mimi angrily blushed. Shaking the otter at him, she frowned. "This entire getting mad at me, then not showing up, then following me to America sha-ding that you pulled here. That, and you bought an Armani-look-alike suit to take me out to a swanky restaurant that--you've always been a stiff ol' tightwad!"

Joe blinked at this, and tried to sputter out an answer.

"I tell you what, you _better_ not be gay or something, `cause if you are, I'm gonna beat the tar outta you for doing this to me, `cause just about _all_ of the guys that I like wind up bein' gay or married or too old or something like that, so I always get the short end of it all. Now I _know_ that you're not married, and you're certainly not too old to be any threat to my Daddy, but all of a sudden you're getting all frivolous and emotional, like a hair-dresser or something--"

"Mimi, look at me." Joe said in the middle of her babbling.

Mimi had a distraught look on her face, and she gave him a quick glance at his command, but quickly lowered her eyes back as she continued. "And if you are, I better be the first one you're telling, `cause I'll never forgive the others for letting me get this involved without telling me anything--"

Joe took his hands, and framed them around Mimi's cheeks. "_Look at me_." He again commanded, and forced her to lift her face up to him again.

Mimi had an embarassed blush on her face, and her lips and nose had gotten red in the cold.

Joe held her face tightly, and he looked her straight in the eye over the rim of his glasses. "Mimi."

Mimi nervously blinked in reply.

"You--are one of my best friends." Joe thoughtfully spoke. "I will never lead you astray. And I don't know how to explain the change you've noticed--only that it's you who caused it."

Mimi rested her hands over his, to keep them warm. "Really? I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be."

"But I don't want you to change for me."

Joe's hold on Mimi's face loosened, and his confident expression vanished into one of surprise.

"Did you think that's what this was? Some way to change you?" Mimi gently smiled, and shook her head. "Never did the idea of changing you cross my mind!"

Joe pulled back a bit, but Mimi still held his hands to her face. "But last week in the tea shoppe, you said you didn't envy my predictable lifestyle."

"But, Joe! I wouldn't want that for _me_! That doesn't mean I didn't like it for you!" Mimi laughed.

Joe scooted forward, closer to her again. "So you're saying you like me predictable."

"Not predictable! What you have is your reliability, Joe! That trait I admire so much is still so obvious in you!"

Joe had a look of puzzlement on his face, and he stood suddenly.

Mimi leaned forward on the bench, and watched Joe favor his weight on his right foot. He folded his arms, and lowered his head.

"Well, I don't know."

"Hmm?" Mimi straightened up, as though snapping to attention.

Joe turned around, a comedic look of perplexion in his eyes. His mouth was a huge frown, and he scratched the back of his head nervously.

Mimi watched him pass by the bench, and head toward the apartment's entrance. "W-wait!" She gathered up the cartons, bag, and plush otter before following after Joe.

They entered the complex together, and Mimi persisted, "Joe, is that it?"

"I'm too tired to figure all of this out tonight." Joe's eyes were beginning to drop as he pushed the elevator button.

Mimi studied Joe's face. The shadows beneath his eyes proved his fatigue. She held the otter in one hand, and the plastic bags in the other. She stared at the otter toy, and waited for the elevator to open. "Were you sleeping on the couch?"

"Yeah."

"New York hotels are expensive."

"I've been told."

The door opened to an empty elevator, and they both entered on opposite sides.

The door shut, and Joe hit the sixth floor button.

Mimi leaned on the wall of the elevator, and looked across to Joe. He slouched on the armrest, his hands back in his pockets. She squinted, and saw the uneven tint on the bottom of Joe's tie. Her eyes fell to his feet, and saw the stains on the hem of his pant legs.

Joe blinked, and stopped slouching when Mimi walked straight across the elevator car, stopping in front of him.

"What?" he asked as she studied him closer.

"You smell horrible." Mimi took Joe's tie, and smelled it. "What is that?"

The door to the elevator opened, and Joe shrugged away. "I gotta take a shower."

"You're telling me. Did they throw you in the fishtank or something?"

Joe snorted a quiet laugh as they walked down the hallway. He shook his head, to which Mimi whined, and tagged along by his side.

Joe looked to her, and snickered. "What are you, a puppy dog?"

Mimi giggled, and latched herself onto his arm. "Uhn! Uhn!" she grinned. "Does that make me cute?"

"Sure, puppies are cute." Joe stopped at the apartment door.

Mimi beamed proudly at that.

"But I don't see any eligable young men dating puppies, do you?" Joe gave Mimi a sideways smile.

"Joooooe!!" Mimi whined, opening the door. They both walked in to the dark apartment. "There you go picking on me again!"

They didn't turn on any of the lights, and they stood at the doorway to wait for their eyes to adjust to the darkness.

"Jill's probably asleep." Mimi whispered.

"I figured as much." Joe whispered back.

"Do you think you can quietly manage to get to the shower?" Mimi asked, blindly groping around in the darkness for a table, a lamp...any familiar object to guide her way through.

"Doubt it. It's darker than dark in here." Joe replied.

"..." Mimi paused. "Okay. Then just follow what I say."

"Sounds fine to me."

Mimi felt the sofa in front of her. "Okay. I just found the sofa. Walk forward a bit, and--" She gasped, and spun around when she felt Joe bump into her from behind. "Dummy! Wait until I stopped talking, first!"

"Sorry." Joe hissed.

Mimi slowly moved her right hand around to find Joe's arm. "Where are you...?" she blindly waved her hand around, until her hand brushed against the stiff white shirt Joe was wearing.

Joe quickly captured her hand with his at the moment they touched, and they both gasped at the contact. Mimi felt Joe press her hand against him.

"I'm here." he said. By feeling the vibration underneath her fingertips, Mimi assumed that her hand was resting against his chest.

Mimi hesitated. Joe's hand was sweaty over hers, and he gently squeezed her hand after a moment. She felt his heart softly beating as he held her open palm just over it. Slowly, Mimi stepped towards him, resting her weight on the hand he held. She heard his steady breathing as she tried to guess where his face was, exactly...

Joe noticed the added pressure. "Mimi?"

"Shh..." Mimi stood on her toes, and closed her eyes. She took in a breath, and relaxed her lips when she felt a sharp pain on her forehead.

"OW!" Joe yelped, and backed away suddenly.

Mimi opened her eyes, and grabbed her forehead.

"Mimi, what are you doing?!" Joe gasped, holding onto his nose. "Ow, my nose...!"

Mimi felt feverish. "S-sorry!" Mimi let go of her forehead, and regained her composure. "Where are you now?"

"Beats me." Joe replied. "Would turning on a lamp be all that harmful?"

"I've gotta find one first." Mimi felt around again. "There should be a coffee table nearby..."

Joe nervously took a step forward, carefully resting his hands on the wall. Takning another step forward, he spoke again.

"What were you doing?" he asked.

"What d'you mean?" Mimi asked, and then heard a sharp rapping noise close by.

"OW! Oh, MAN---!" Joe cried out, and then went back to a hush.

"Joe?!"

"I found the coffeetable." Joe choked out, obviously in pain.

Mimi followed Joe's voice, and rested a hand on the coffeetable as she approached it. "Are you okay?"

"Sure. I've still got one knee left."

Mimi smiled at his dryness, and shook her head. "You're so cute."

Even in the pitch black, Mimi could tell Joe was blushing.

"T-turn on the light already."

Mimi switched on the lamp, and she saw Joe on the opposite side of the table, holding his knee with one hand, his nose being held with the other.

Mimi tried to keep a straight face, but she had to turn away from Joe to hide a snicker.

Joe cynically glared across to Mimi, and straightened up, folding his arms.

Mimi turned back to look at him after her laughter died down, but she got one look at Joe's red nose, and started laguhing again. Pointing, she managed to say "You...your nose!"

"Shh!" Joe hissed, and Mimi suddenly remembered that the residents of the apartment were most likely aslepp. She covered her mouth, her eyes wide.

"Are you done?"

Mimi nodded, still covering her mouth.

"...." Joe quirked an eyebrow.

Mimi uncovered her mouth, her smirk gone. "Honest. No more laughing at your expense."

Joe began to slowly walk past Mimi to head towards the shower. Mimi reached up to Joe's shoulders from behind. Joe closed his eyes, and let his stiff shoulders relax as Mimi gently helped him slide off his jacket.

"What time does your plane leave?"

"Around one."

"So we can sleep in tomorrow?" Mimi asked.

"I suppose." Joe walked towards the bathroom, pulling off his tie.

Mimi folded Joe's jacket over her arm, following close behind. "Was there something you wanted to do?"

Joe stood in the bathroom doorway, and unbuttoned his sleeves. "No, actually, sleeping in doesn't sound too bad, if I can somehow manage it."

Mimi smirked at this. Even if he tried to sleep in, Joe always found himself awake before nine o' clock every morning. "Some people are born lucky, I guess."

"If you wanna call it luck." Joe shrugged, focusing on the buttons he was undoing on his shirt. He paused, and then slowly looked over his shoulder--if not a little suspiciously--to Mimi, who stood there with his jacket draped over her arm.

Mimi blinked.

"What, are you going to wash my back?" Joe teased, pulled his shirt out of his pants.

"Huh? O-oh!" Mimi gasped, and quickly tried to distract herself.

Joe turned back towards the bathroom, and continued to unbutton his shirt in front of the mirror. He balked in his footing, and hesitated to peer over his hsoulder again to look at Mimi. He saw the hallway empty, and discreetly stuck his head out the door--

Mimi's warm brown hair fell down over the arm of the living room sofa. Her feet dangled over the other side lazily.

He saw his briefcase leaning against the back of the sofa. He didn't make a sound as he walked over to get it. He succeeded in doing so, and knelt down to take the briefacase by its handle.

"Don't take forever in the shower, okay?" Mimi's voice quietly broke the silence.

As if qued, Joe's briefcase unlatched open, and its contents fell on the floor in a messy heap.

Mimi rolled onto her side to look at Joe.

Joe shamefully kept his eyes lowered, and bunched everything together.

"The darned thing broke..." Joe piled his clothes back into the briefcase.

"We can get one before you leave tomorrow." Mimi put her hands on the arm of the sofa.

"Yeah, that'll look great on Dad's credit card." he muttered.

Mimi's widened eyes gave away her shock. "You _stole_ your Dad's credit card?!"

Joe angrily blushed. "No!! He gave me one!"

"Oooh...." Mimi nodded, and paused in thought. "Well," she rose her eyebrows. "You can borrow mine for the trip back."

Joe stopped trying to sort through his clothes, and cynically looked up to her. "I get the feeling it'll be overkill."

Mimi nervously smiled. "It probably is a bit big..."

Joe gave up on organizing his luggage, and took a t-shirt and shorts. He stood, and tiredly kicked the clothes and briefcase to the side. "I'll fix it in the morning."

"If it makes you happy." Mimi rolled back over on the sofa, and snuggled back into a comfy position.

Joe smiled at this. "Well, I'll have to entertain myself somehow while you're snoozing the morning away." He walked back into the bathroom, and shut the door behind him.

He started the shower, and took off his shirt completely. Throwing it in a heap on the floor, he undid his belt, and pulled it off. He set it on the counter, and emptied his pockets. He ran his fingers over the contents--some change, a hefty wad of American currency with a sleek gold clip over it,

--and the bracelet.

Joe picked it up. He had it with him the entire time. He had meant to put it away, in the back of his briefcase. He figured his chances were way past gone. But his assumptions were all blown to pieces with her characteristic readyness to accept him completely again, time after time, after being a target of all of his cynicism, all of his harshness and sharpness.

How could she be so forgiving?

The question sunk further into his thoughts as he finished undressing. He stepped into the shower, and felt his rigidness from the late hour melt down the drain with the hot water hitting him.

He sighed. "Joe, you think too much." He reached over, and shut off the water.

Once he was dressed and out of the bathroom, Mimi vacated the couch for Joe, and showered.

Joe turned on the television, and kept the volume low. He twirled the fragile gold chain around the fingers of his right hand, and rubbed the cold amethyst bead between his fingers to warm it up.

After twenty minutes of mindless surfing, Joe saw that Mimi had returned in flannel pajamas. She crawled onto the sofa, a fuzzy blanket under one of her arms.

Joe looked to her. Her wet hair fell over her shoulders and collarbone. Without her makeup, the shadows under her eyes stuck out vividly against her pale skin.

"You're going to get sick." Joe said.

Mimi looked to him. Her eyes traced him up and down critically. "You're going to get cold." She opened the blanket, and threw part of it over Joe's legs.

Joe took the corners of the blanket, and pulled it over his legs. "What're you doing back here?"

Mimi reached over, and took the remote from Joe. "Wanted to see what was on, that's all."

Joe silently sat back on the sofa, and waited for Mimi to settle on a channel.

"Do you expect to ever sleep tonight?"

"Of course. It's only eleven-fourty-five." MImi set the remote down in-between the two of them on the sofa.

Joe sighed, and watched the screen. His eyelids stung from exhaustion, and his ears began to filter out all of the noise from the television.

"You don't have to try to stay awake." Mimi propped her feet up on the table in front of the sofa, and moved her feet a bit.

"I'm trying to fall asleep." Joe replied.

Mimi reached over, and pulled off Joe's glasses. "It'd help if you'd take off your glasses, I think."

Joe flinched, and pulled away. "Warn me before you do that."

Mimi folded his glasses, and put them by her feet on the coffeetable. "Do I make you uncomfortable?"

"No, it's not that."

"That's good." Mimi began to lean against him lightly. "I'd feel pretty rotten if I did."

Joe shifted, and shook his head in disbelief. "How can you do this?"

"Do what?"

"_This_." Joe nodded. "Acting like--what happened tonight didn't happen."

Mimi's shoulder was against his arm. She looked up to him. "Well--you were sorry for what you did, so I forgave you." Mimi looked back to the screen. "For me--I believe forgiving is forgetting."

Joe looked at Mimi with a tight frown.

"If you don't believe me, I really don't mind." Mimi's wet hair was cold against Joe's arm.

"I believe you." Joe quietly replied.

Mimi closed her eyes. "That's good."

Joe dug beneath the blankets to get the remote control, and turned off the TV. The two sat in the darkness, and Mimi let out a yawn.

"Man, this week's been killer." she pulled the blankets tighter, and slouched down on the sofa.

"Shh." Joe scolded.

"Oh, _you_ 'shh'!" Mimi scolded back in good humor.

"Go to sleep."

"You first."

"I will, then."

"Good."

"Fine"

"Fine."

Mimi had her entire body sprawled across the sofa by ten the next morning. Her feet had the blanket draped over them as they hung over the arm of the sofa.

She stirred awake the moment her left arm slid off of the sofa cushion. It hung a few inches from the carpeted floor, and she didn't take immediate notice to the bracelet dangling loosely around her wrist.

Joe was in the dining room, sitting at the table. He was fully dressed in a dark plum-colored button up shrit, and dark khaki pants. His socked feet were resting firmly on the tile floor, and he leaned over the table, intensely eyeing the buckle on his briefcase. He had a set of tiny screwdrivers spread out on the table.

Jill was sitting across the table in her pajamas, holdling a steaming cup of coffee to her face. She silently watched Joe's exact handiwork replacing the screw on the briefcase buckle.

"Didja learn that in med school?" Jill asked before taking a sip.

"Learn what?"

"Handiwork like that. You're so sure in your movement..." Jill watched Joe's long fingers swiftly twist the screwdriver.

"...I dunno. I guess." Joe replied, and set the screwdriver down. He picked up the briefcase, and tested it.

Jill eyed him. "Are you the same guy that was in those photo-stickers?"

Joe set the briefcase back down. "Wh--the puri-kura?" He glanced to the side as though to think back.

Mimi walked into the kitchen, and both Jill and Joe looked up to her. She walked over to the fridge, and pulled out a carton of milk.

Jill noticed the cozy smile on Mimi's face, and saw Joe shyly shrug over his tools in response to a lingering glance Mimi sent him. The American rose her eyebrows, and sipped her coffee.

Mimi sat at the table with a bowl and a box of Cheerios. "I'm assuming the two of you had breakfast this morning."

"Yup." Jill stood, and took a crutch. "And I need to go get dressed."

Mimi looked to Jill. "D'you need help?"

"Nah, I'll take my time. You'll be with me all week. You two gab for a bit before he has to go home." Jill called behind her as she headed to her bedroom.

Mimi turned back to Joe, and smiled warmly again. She rested her arms on the table, and put her left arm over her right, to show the bracelet on her wrist.

"I should've put two and two together." Mimi had a pleasant tone in her voice.

"But I'm too predictable for that." Joe smiled, still messing with his briefcase.

Mimi stirred her Cheerios. "D'you want me to wear this?"

Joe knew she meant the bracelet. "Well, isn't that what they're for?" He evaded the question by pretending to be absorbed in his briefcase.

Mimi furrowed her brow, and held up her wrist emphatically. "I mean, all the time."

Joe put away his screwdrivers, and set them in the briefcase. A silent moment passed.

Mimi was about to ask the question again, but waited a moment. She then opened her mouth to speak, but Joe cut her off.

"If you want to."

Mimi lowered her wrist. "I don't mind."

"Only if you want to."

"Do you want me to?"

Joe finally looked up from his briefcase. His dark eyes softly glistened with a quiet ray of hope form behind his glasses. As though confessing some abominable sin, he mumbled, "Yeah."

Mimi's furrowed brow and tight frown relaxed to a smile. With a pleasant blush, she lowered her face, and hovered over her cereal in a bashful shrug. She scooped up a spoonful of Cheerios, and ate a too-large bite. She pulled her eyes from her cereal and got eye-contact with Joe across the table, who appeared unaffected by the most recent exchange. But they both knew better.

"What should I say when I get back?" Joe broke their stare, and began to put his things into his briefcase.

"To who?" Mimi swallowed her bite.

"Everyone."

"Well, everyone including your Dad?"

Joe paused, and his eyes looked to the distance as he thought for a moment. "Except Dad."

Mimi nodded, and scooped up some more Cheerios. "Tell `em whatever you want. But leave out some of the details."

"But don't you want to wait until you come home?" Joe asked.

"Do you think they're going to give you any peace from the moment you step foot in Japan again?" Mimi answered (sorta).

Joe shut his briefcase, and it fastened with a quiet 'click'. He stood, and began to put away his different screwdrivers.

Mimi put another spoonful in her mouth, and watched Joe with her round hazel eyes.

Joe lifted his briefcase, and carried it at his side. He walked by Mimi as he passed by the kitchen table. He came to a halt when he felt a tug on the back of his shirt bunched into the palm of Mimi's hand. Her back was facing him, she was still turned towards the table.

"Joe." she quietly said.

Joe merely blinked in reply, a curious look on his face.

Mimi turned her face to the side, and she gazed down to the tile floor. "Joe, I wish I could've made this easier."

Joe turned around, and rested a hand on top of Mimi's soft, fine brown hair.

Mimi looked up to see Joe's encouraging smile.

"I don't." Joe brightly replied.

"Mimiiiiiii---!!!" Jill called from the sidewalk. "This taxi is _waiting_!!!"

"I know, I _know_!" Mimi backed out of the apartment, two huge shopping bags weighing down each side of her long frame. "Joe!" she barked over her shoulder. "The taxi's costing us, y'know! Hussle! Hussle!"

Joe grunted as he balanced his briefcase on his fingers, and another bag of American goodies for the troupe back home. "Couldn't these things wait until you got home Friday?"

Joe stumbled to the curbside, and dropped his belongings into the trunk.

"Care-_ful_!!!" Mimi scolded, leaning over the trunk to straighten out the bags. "Geez, let's not break everything."

"Get in, kids." Jill poked her head out of the taxi window.

Joe and Mimi exchanged glances as Mimi shut the trunk.

Mimi let herself in the back seat, and rested her purse between her feet on the taxi floor. Joe soon ducked into the cab, and shut the door behind him.

Mimi turned to Joe as he heaved a sigh of relief.

"...it'll be good to be home." he closed his eyes as the taxi pulled away from the curb.

Mimi stuck out her bottom lip. "Oh?"

Joe folded his arms over his chest, and leaned back on the leather seats. "Yeah. Familiarity is such a good thing."

Mimi leaned over, and studied Joe's face.

Joe opened his eyes, and suddenly backed up into the seat in a fit. "What?!"

Mimi blinked, her eyes wide. "Aren't I familiar?"

"Th-th..." Joe scooted away, and sat up. "That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean, then?"

"...." Joe adjusted his glasses, and looked out the window. "...nothing."

Mimi paused, and sat back again. "I'll be back home Friday."

"I know."

Mimi looked out the other window. "You do, huh..."

"You've only told me about five times this morning." Joe didn't look to Mimi, but gazed still out the window.

There was a grueling silence between the two of them.

Mimi looked down to her wrist again, and began to play with the amethyst bead on her bracelet.

"Don't break it."

Mimi grimaced, and grumbled below her breath. "M'gonna break it."

"What's that?"

Mimi turned to Joe. "I'm _not _gonna break it, for crying out loud...!"

Joe blinked, holding his arm in front of his face, as though to shield it. He had a nervous smile on his face, "S...sorry."

Mimi folded her arms, and huffed. "Geez. You think I'd go through all this to _break_ the silly bracelet?"

"Is it really that silly? I thought it was nice." Joe leaned over Mimi's arm to get a good look at it again.

Mimi drew back her arm, and brought it close to her chest. "I didn't mean it like that."

Joe leaned back, and Mimi sighed. "The airport's not far from here."

Jill paid the taxi driver as Joe and Mimi pulled out the luggage going back to Japan.

"You need to carry this one on with you." Mimi pressed a flat bag against Joe's chest, and Joe began to pull the handles apart to look into it.

"Don't look at it!" Mimi snapped, and Joe quickly pulled it shut in a fuss. "You can't open that until you're back in Japan." Mimi tapped her chin with an index finger, and smiled.

Joe blinked, and looked down at it again. "Why don't you just wait and give it to me when you get back?"

"Do you want me to take it back?" Mimi reached for the bag, and Joe defensively stepped back, pulling the bag close.

"No, that's okay."

"No, if it's that much of a _temptation...._" Mimi teased.

Joe furrowed his brow, and frowned. "What on _earth_ do you have in here?"

Mimi leaned back on her heels, and put her arms behind her back. "Nothing bad." She took Joe's arm, and pointed to the entrance. "They've got your bags. Let's go get an Icee."

Joe blinked, and noticed the breath forming clouds in front of his face. "In this weather?"

"Well, when's the next time you'll be in an American airport? You've _got_ to try one!" Mimi tugged on his arm, and walked backwards into the airport.

The crowds were pretty diluted, seeing that it was weekday afternoon. Mimi looked behind to wave to Jill. "We're going to get an Icee! Want one?" she called.

Jill waved back to them, and shouted, "No! I'm going to head over to the gate and save you guys a seat!"

Mimi nodded, and turned back to Joe. "She needs to get off her foot anyway."

"Will she be all right, by herself?" Joe asked.

"Oh, easy. Jill's got savior-faire that I could only _dream_ of." Mimi pulled her coat tighter, and pointed ahead of herself. "The food court's this way."

Mimi giggled to herself as Joe gasped in awe at the food court they entered.

"...you...you could LIVE in here!!!" Joe marvelled at the number of stations serving various lunches.

"The Icee machine is over here..." Mimi lightly touched Joe's arm, and nodded to a spot across the food court.

"...and this is in an AIRPORT?!" Joe gawked.

Mimi smiled, and bee-lined to the Icee station. She stood in line, and pulled out her wallet to get a few dollars out. "My favorite is the Coke Icee, but the blueberry is a must-have if you've never tried it..." She looked up from her wallet, and noticed Joe just barely pushing down the sides of the bag she handed him earlier. She lightly fwapped him, and he jumped.

She turned back to the register, and smiled at the tender. "I'd like to have a large blueberry Icee, please." she turned to Joe, "What about you?"

Joe shrugged. "What do you think?"

Mimi turned back, "He'll have a Coke Icee." She looked over her shoulder to Joe, "That way, if you don't want the rest of it, I can have it."

Joe and Mimi walked casually back to the gate Joe would be leaving at, pretty quiet, outside of the occasional slurping noise they made with their drinks.

"Hmm!" Joe made a quiet laugh which caused Mimi to look up to him.

Mimi's hazel eyes were round. "What?"

Joe pulled the straw away from his mouth, and smiled, "You look very happy with your Icee."

Mimi looked down to her rapidly emptying cup, and looked back up, her face beaming. "They're one of those little things in life that make everything..."

"...sweet." Joe nodded, and smiled back.

Mimi smiled, and nodded. Without saying anything, she went back to sipping on her blueberry Icee.

They came to their gate, and Mimi found a trashcan to throw away her empty Icee cup in. "Those are always great!" She rubbed her hands, "My hands are freeeeeezing!"

Joe put a hand in his pocket, and looked back to Mimi. "Your mouth is blue."

Mimi's eyes widened, and she brought a hand to her mouth. "You're kidding!"

Joe laughed a bit, and threw away his Icee. "Now your lips look freezing cold. You look dead or something."

Mimi pulled down her hand, and frowned at Joe. "You don't have to go that far!"

Joe laughed harder.

"Joooooooe!"

"Mimiiiii!"

They stood in line to board the plane, and Joe turned to face Mimi.

Mimi held her hands together, and looked at him. She waited for him to speak before doing anything.

Joe looked down at her, his eyes tired, a little puffy. Sleep-deprived, no doubt.

Mimi's mouth gaped open a bit, "...."

Joe kept a straight face, and rested a hand on Mimi's shoulder. "Mimi."

Mimi's eyebrows rose, a hopeful feeling seemed to inflate in her chest, suffocating her a bit, so that she couldn't speak.

Joe leaned forward a bit, and paused a few inches from her. He then moved an inch closer...

"...ph..phhffft!" Joe lowered his head, and began to laugh.

Mimi's face went comedically blank. "Wh..."

"...I...I'm sorry...it's too hard to have a serious goodbye...when you look like one of the Titanic victims!" Joe said between laughs.

Mimi's shoulders sagged. "Heh."

Joe straightened up, and inhaled. "Ah, that felt good!" He brushed his hands over his pant legs, and smiled confidently.

Mimi glared up at him. _Why you..._

"Don't worry, Mimi...jet-lag will take its revenge on me for you." Joe held up an index finger, and smiled.

Mimi felt that suffocation feeling deflate like an untied balloon.

"Tell Jill thanks for me. She was very hospitable." Joe took his hand off of Mimi's shoulder, and walked up to have his ticket taken.

"..." Mimi watched in silence as Joe just...left.

No big deal.

Not a word out of her.

Not even a...not a thing.

"J-JOE!!!" Mimi put her hands around her mouth, and shouted.

Joe, a good distance away from her, turned around.

"Open it after you've taken off!" Mimi leaned forward as she shouted with as much volume as she could.

Mimi felt her heart speed up again as she saw a smile creep across Joe's face, and he lifted his chin a bit to give her a quick nod. He turned around again, and sped up his walking, so as not to keep the people behind him waiting.

Mimi smiled, her chest proudly puffed in an almost triumphant stance. Jill hobbled next to Mimi, and spoke.

"He looks different from the puri-kuras."

"Doesn't he?" Mimi breathed quietly, and then turned around. "Let's go shopping."

Jill turned around on her crutches, and followed with good speed. "Shopping? But you bought your friends everything they asked for."

Mimi shook her head. She licked her lips, and pressed them together. "For me. For lipstick."

Jill stopped, and looked at her friend quizically.

Mimi stopped next to her, and nervously smiled. "Whaaaat?" She laughed. "Silllyyyyyy! Stop looking at me like that!"

"Honestly, Mimi..."

"Whaaaat? It's not like _that_!"

"Pink wiring."

"Right."

"...." Izzy bent over Cody's computer, and peered in. "And they stand for...which color, Yolei?"

Yolei blushed a bit, and closed her eyes. "...that is...I forgot if it was for red or yellow."

Joe watched the two of them silently communicate at the table of the Izumi apartment. Yolei timidly toyed with her fingers, and watched Izzy tinker with the wiring inside.

"...and you did this..."

"I'm sorry?" Yolei rose her eyebrows.

"Oh. I see." Izzy stood up, and pulled at his collar a bit. "This is one of those things that you did for no reason at all."

Joe snorted a laugh, and lightly kicked at the shopping bag sitting at his feet.

"Of _course_ I had a _reason_ for it!" Yolei flatly glared at her cyber-savvy associate. "I just don't feel like _telling_ you."

"Oh, so you had a reason." Izzy put the computer tower's case back on, and slid it in place. "Just not a _good_ one."

"And they say romance is dead." Joe snicked, and pulled the shopping bag up onto the table. "Okay. Put away the toys. I have a delivery to make."

Yolei and Izzy both glared to Joe over the tower of the computer.

"Romance is only dead because you _killed _it." Yolei's voice was icy cold.

"You shouldn't speak, Joe. You've had plenty of opportunities over the past two weeks, and you've done more than kill it." Izzy's tone was nearly identical to Yolei.

"He's tortured, killed, resurrected, and crucified it." Yolei took the tower, and put it on the floor.

Joe sat back, and pulled out their gifts from the shopping bag. "I dunno. I think I've done pretty well."

"You could've done better." Yolei folded her arms. "C'mooooon! All you could show for yourself is your silly otter and a pair of new cuff-links?!"

Joe blinked, taken aback, a little insulted. "I like the cuff-links."

"You were in _New York City_!!! Y'knooooow! 'An Affair to Remember'!"

"Never saw it."

"The Empire State Building!"

"Heights make me pass out."

"The busy streets! The hussle and bussle!"

"...the smog. The noise..."

Yolei stared across to Joe cynically, opening her gift from Mimi. "Someone wasn't breast-fed."

Izzy hunched over, suddenly cracking up.

Joe paused, silent. He looked to Izzy, who quickly calmed down his laughter. He turned back to Yolei, and said with a priceless deadpan, "Someone doesn't have breasts."

Yolei gawked, and Izzy gaffawed. She turned to Izzy, "Don't laugh! Stop laughing!"

Joe sat back in his seat, listened to the two go at it like two quarreling birds.

"I do SO have breasts!"

"Yes...yes, Yolei, you do."

"How the heck should YOU know?! You better not be looking!!!"

It was Thursday. January twenty-fifth. Joe looked to the clock on the Izumi kitchen wall. It wasn't even seven in the evening yet.

Joe stood, and pushed his chair in. "I have a few rounds to make, yet."

Yolei looked up from the being-strangled Izzy, her amber eyes wide. "Wha--? Wait! Isn't there more?"

Joe blinked, "More?"

"You know..._more_." Yolei shrugged inquisitively.

"...." Joe stared at the two of them blankly. "...more....to....?" He shook his head, obviously clueless as to what they were hinting at.

Both Izzy and Yolei sighed, and flatly stared at each other.

Yolei released her hold on her upper-classman, and put a hand on her hip. "No matter. I'll get it all from Mimi tomorrow, anyhow."

"Bu-but...get what out of Mimi?" Joe frowned hilariously.

"Everything!" Yolei grinned, and pushed Joe out of the apartment door. "Get some rest! We're gonna get to the airport early tomorrow!"

"All of us?"

"Well, nooo...some of us are busy." Yolei glared over her shoulder. She smiled up to Joe, and chirped, "Just those that love her the most, I guess!"

Joe cleared his throat, and looked away.

Yolei grinned wider, and pushed on Joe's cheek with an index finger. "That's m'boy...!"

Joe sighed as Yolei shut the Izumi apartment door behind her, and dug into the shopping bag he brought with him. He pulled out the toy otter, and held it in front of him. "I find myself talking to you again, don't I?" He lowered his head, and his glasses slid down the bridge of his nose. "Maybe I should give you name then, huh?" He closed his eyes, and stood outside the apartment door.

He paused, and opened his eyes again. The two black beaded eyes stared up at him expectantly.

"But you probably want Mimi to name you, don't you?" he smiled a bit, wanting to laugh at himself. He moved his index finger just behind the otter's plush head, to make it nod. "She'd probably name you something much cuter, anyway."

He shook his head, almost ashamed of himself. He put the otter in his coat pocket, and began to walk down the hallway. "You can ask her when she gets home tomorrow, right?" he muttered below his breath, optimistically looking forward.

_She'll be happy to see you, I think._

Joe shrugged, a chastising smile dominating his features, "But you can't get your hopes up."

**fin.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
_Iiiiiiiii!!!! OmiGOSH! I finished it! =O The series...is...OVAAHHHHH!!!! ::strikes a pose:: I've NEVER finished a series before! Never! ...unless you count Ageis. But that wasn't even really an ENDING. Because it had a second season! ._

_This is the end. Of course, I left the ending open for a sequel, if I feel like it. It would be a short one, of course...at least, shorter than this. It would be a **one-shot**. But now I can focus my efforts on "To Japan, With Love"...you guys DO want me to continue that one, right? I also have a 2027 Jyoumi ficcy that I started a while ago...and then I have "Kimi ga Omoide ni Naru Mae ni" that I've added to, but haven't finished yet, either! ._

_But it's late. It's almost 3 a.m. over here...do I really need to ASK you guys to review this for me? You know I want `em. Sock `em at me. ^^ I don't mind at aaaall._

_Thanks to everyone who's stuck through this entire series. I dunno why, but I usually stay away from reading series. I guess I'm not one for commitment. ^^;;; You guys are too much. I love all of you! Please continue staying in touch! I love hearing from you all!_

_~[Mimi-chan][1]_

_As always, **[Reality Check][2]** has been updated! Please visit!_

   [1]: mailto:%20tachikawamimiusa@hotmail.com
   [2]: http://mimou.faithweb.com/index.html



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